North Staffordshire mum reveals how she cooked Christmas dinner for her family-of-5 - for under £20

Savvy shopper Claire Walton, from Leek, dished up the festive feast with all the trimmings for herself, her three children and partner for just £18.75 - which works out at an astonishing £3.75 per head.

A North Staffordshire mum has revealed how she cooked Christmas dinner for her family-of-five - for under £20.

Savvy shopper Claire Walton, from Leek, dished up the festive feast with all the trimmings for herself, her three children and partner for just £18.75 - which works out at an astonishing £3.75 per head.

And, not only that - but the thirty-two-year-old - also had enough leftovers for TWO WEEKS' worth of meals.

Claire has been a savvy food shopper since having her daughter Amber two years ago when she slashed her weekly food bill from £120 to just £50 per week - leaving her with an extra £280 each month to save or spend on treats.

She has revealed how she ditched branded products for cheaper own brand alternatives and swapped her regular supermarket run for shopping at discount retailers for the best bargain.

Claire said: “Three children means Christmas is a costly time of year so looking closely at how much things cost, even the big festive meal, is a really important part of my budgeting.

“Christmas Day is a busy one for me – I want to spend it with the children, so all the prep happens in our house the night before.

“Everyone mucks in peeling and chopping veg and getting the meat prepped and ready to put in the oven the next morning."

Claire said she was able to save on her Christmas dinner thanks to a Christmas hamper - which she spent £60 on.

She said: "“The MuscleFood.com hamper made that even easier for us. All the meat was delivered chilled and fresh to my door – all I had to do was unpack the box and get it ready to cook.

“The £60 hamper and the extra £1 for 53 extras fed the five of us a tasty Christmas dinner with all the trimmings plus lots of leftovers I could then put into other dishes.

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“I used up the turkey in a curry, a pie and a casserole. The hamper included lots of sausages, bacon and sausage meat which made meals like toad in the hole, a sausage meat pasta bake and bacon and potato layer bake.

“My frugal shopping started when Amber, who’s now two, was born. We needed to cut back on our spending and looking at our food shopping was the obvious way to do it.

“I cut our weekly bill by almost £70 straight away – simply by cooking from scratch, shopping around and swapping branded for own brand.

“Online bulk buying has played a part in keeping our costs down, as have shopping at discount retailers."